On Friday January 3rd I made my way to the Royal Opera House in London for the first time to mark the start of my 75th birthday year. I had only discovered late that there were performances over Christmas and the New Year of Carmen using the 2012 production which I had seen live in 3D and then purchased the DVD but although familiar with the set as well as the Opera which commenced in my childhood it was too good an opportunity miss if tickets were available, There were and for once paying a £150 plus for a ticket did not appear an extravagance.
I had witnessed the virtual rebuilding of the Opera House complex on visits to the former flower, fruit and vegetable market which had now become a tourist Mecca for shops and restaurants and free live entertainment a short walk from Trafalgar and Leicester Squares.
Arriving early only the bookshop and ticket office was open and purchasing a programme excellent value at £5 or less the shelves of DVDs and books were resisted. There was a goon queue of people waiting for the Paul Hamlyn Hall to open. “This is a large iron and glass structure adjacent to, and with direct access to, the main opera house building. Historically, it formed part of the old Covent Garden flower market, and is still commonly known as the 'floral hall', but it was absorbed into the Royal Opera House complex during the 90s redevelopment. The hall now acts as the atrium and main public area of the opera house, with a champagne bar, restaurant and other hospitality services, and also providing access to the main auditorium at all levels The redevelopment of the Floral Hall was originally made possible with a pledge of £10m from the philanthropist Alberto Vilar and for a number of years, it was known as the Vilar Floral Hall; however Vilar failed to make good his pledge. As a result, the name was changed in September 2005 to the Paul Hamlyn Hall, after the opera house received a donation of £10m from the estate of Paul Hamlyn, towards its education and development programmes. As well as acting as a main public area for performances in the main auditorium, the Paul Hamlyn Hall is also used for hosting a number of events, including private functions, dances, exhibitions, concerts, and workshops “
This formal Wikipedia description fails to convey the extraordinary nature of this building which reminds of a department store tea room in Paris, name forgotten. The open structure is half a dozen floors in height with at the top along side the main open area there is separate restaurant and bar area where on sofas we had drinks and watch the diners arrive until it was time to make our way downstairs again and into the Opera House proper which also the facade and main auditorium are substantial the same as before.
Again the formal note reads “Several renovations had taken place to parts of the house in the 1960s, including improvements to the amphitheatre but the theatre clearly needed a major overhaul. In 1975 the Labour government gave land adjacent to the Royal Opera House for a long-overdue modernisation, refurbishment, and extension. In the early 1980s the first part of a major renovation included an extension to the rear of the theatre on the James Street corner. The development added two new ballet studios, offices, a Chorus Rehearsal Room and the Opera Rehearsal room. Dressing rooms were also added.
By 1995, sufficient funds from the Arts Lottery through Arts Council England and private fundraising had been raised to enable the company to embark upon a major £213 million reconstruction of the building by Carillion, which took place between 1997 and 1999, under the chairmanship of Sir Angus Stirling. This involved the demolition of almost the whole site including several adjacent buildings to make room for a major increase in the size of the complex. The auditorium itself remained, but well over half of the complex is new. The design team was led by Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones of Dixon Jones BDP as architects. The acoustic designers were Rob Harris and Jeremy Newton of Arup Acoustics. The building engineer was Arup with Stanhope as developer.
The new building has the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before, but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office, and educational facilities, a new studio theatre called the Linbury Theatre, and much more public space. The venue is now claimed by the ROH to be the most modern theatre facility in Europe.
Subtitles, projected onto a screen above the proscenium, have been used for all opera performances since they were introduced in 1984. Since the reopening of the theatre in 1999 an electronic libretto system provides translations onto small video screens for some seats, and additional monitors and screens are to be introduced to other parts of the house.”
The overall outcome is a contrasting combination of contemporary luxury of the former floral hall to the glorious luxury of the traditional Opera auditorium unlike some of he almost start structure of other houses which have been seen via relays and TV and which include the Met in New York. Despite having over 2000 seats there is a feeling of intimacy especially in the stalls where we had seats to one side against the wall although thus prove excellent views where the facial expressions of the singers could be experienced although it was something of a neck crick to look up past the singers to sub titles high above. Knowing the story well I did not need these and sat back to enjoy the music and the voice.
Act 1 A square, in Seville. On the right, a door to the tobacco factory. At the back, a bridge. On the left, a guardhouse. A group of soldiers relaxes in the square, waiting for the changing of the guard and commenting on the passers-by ("Sur la place, chacun passe"). Micaëla appears, seeking José. Moralès tells her that "José is not yet on duty" and invites her to wait with them. She declines, saying she will return later. José arrives with the new guard, which is greeted and imitated by a crowd of urchins ("Avec la garde montante").
As the factory bell rings, the cigarette girls emerge and exchange banter with young men in the crowd ("La cloche a sonné"). Carmen enters and sings her provocative habanera on the untameable nature of love ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle"). The men plead with her to choose a lover, and after some teasing she throws a flower to Don José, who thus far has been ignoring her but is now annoyed by her insolence.
As the women go back to the factory, Micaëla returns and gives José a letter and a kiss from his mother ("Parle-moi de ma mère!"). He reads that his mother wants him to return home and marry Micaëla, who retreats in shy embarrassment on learning this. Just as José declares that he is ready to heed his mother's wishes, the women stream from the factory in great agitation. Zuniga, the officer of the guard, learns that Carmen has attacked a woman with a knife. When challenged, Carmen answers with mocking defiance ("Tra la la... Coupe-moi, brûle-moi"); Zuniga orders José to tie her hands while he prepares the prison warrant. Left alone with José, Carmen beguiles him with a seguidilla, in which she sings of a night of dancing and passion with her lover—whoever that may be—in Lillas Pastia's tavern. Confused yet mesmerised, José agrees to free her hands; as she is led away she pushes her escort to the ground and runs off laughing. José is arrested for dereliction of duty.
Act 2
Lillas Pastia's Inn
A month has passed. Carmen and her friends Frasquita and Mercédès are entertaining Zuniga and other officers ("Les tringles des sistres tintaient") in Pastia's inn. Carmen is delighted to learn of José's release from a month's detention. Outside, a chorus and procession announces the arrival of the toreador Escamillo ("Vivat, vivat le Toréro"). Invited inside, he introduces himself with his "Toreador Song" ("Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre") and sets his sights on Carmen, who brushes him aside. Lillas Pastia hustles the crowds and the soldiers away.
When only Carmen, Frasquita and Mercédès remain, the smugglers Dancaïre and Remendado arrive and reveal their plans to dispose of some recently acquired contraband ("Nous avons en tête une affaire"). Frasquita and Mercédès are keen to help them, but Carmen refuses, since she wishes to wait for José. After the smugglers leave, José arrives. Carmen treats him to a private exotic dance ("Je vais danser en votre honneur ... La la la"), but her song is joined by a distant bugle call from the barracks. When José says he must return to duty, she mocks him, and he answers by showing her the flower that she threw to him in the square ("La fleur que tu m'avais jetée"). Unconvinced, Carmen demands he shows his love by leaving with her. José refuses to desert, but as he prepares to depart, Zuniga enters looking for Carmen. He and José fight, and are separated by the returning smugglers, who restrain Zuniga. Having attacked a superior officer, José now has no choice but to join Carmen and the smugglers ("Suis-nous à travers la campagne").
Act 3
A wild spot close to the border with Gibraltar. Carmen and José enter with the smugglers and their booty ("Écoute, écoute, compagnons"); Carmen has now become bored with José and tells him scornfully that he should go back to his mother. Frasquita and Mercédès amuse themselves by reading their fortunes from the cards; Carmen joins them and finds that the cards are foretelling her death, and José's. The women depart to suborn the customs officers who are watching the locality. José is placed on guard duty.
Micaëla enters with a guide, seeking José and determined to rescue him from Carmen ("Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante"). On hearing a gunshot she hides in fear; it is José, who has fired at an intruder who proves to be Escamillo. José's pleasure at meeting the bullfighter turns to anger when Escamillo declares his infatuation with Carmen. The pair fight ("Je suis Escamillo, toréro de Grenade"), but are interrupted by the returning smugglers and girls ("Holà, holà José"). As Escamillo leaves he invites everyone to his next bullfight in Seville. Micaëla is discovered; at first, José will not leave with her despite Carmen's mockery, but he agrees to go when told that his mother is dying. As he departs, vowing he will return, Escamillo is heard in the distance, singing the toreador's song
.
Act 4
A square in Seville. At the back, the walls of an ancient amphitheatre Zuniga, Frasquita and Mercédès are among the crowd awaiting the arrival of the bullfighters ("Les voici ! Voici la quadrille!"). Escamillo enters with Carmen, and they express their mutual love ("Si tu m'aimes, Carmen"). As Escamillo goes into the arena, Frasquita warns Carmen that José is nearby, but Carmen is unafraid and willing to speak to him. Alone, she is confronted by the desperate José ("C'est toi ! C'est moi !"). While he pleads vainly for her to return to him, cheers are heard from the arena. As José makes his last entreaty, Carmen contemptuously throws down the ring he gave her and attempts to enter the arena. He then stabs her, and as Escamillo is acclaimed by the crowds, Carmen dies. José kneels and sings "Ah! Carmen! ma Carmen adorée!"; as the crowd exits the arena, José confesses to killing the woman he loved.
In terms of performances the star of the evening was Veronica Cangemi, the most convincing Michaela I have experienced and who generated the great applause appreciation from the audience at the end. I cannot find an English biog but she appears to have concentrated on Vivaldi, Mozart Handel and others rather than grand Opera.
“Verónica Cangemi (*10 de octubre 1964) es una soprano argentina nacida en Mendoza de amplia trayectoria en Europa especialmente en el área de la música barroca y de práctica informada. Se inició como cellista, posteriormente como cantante ganó el Concurso Francisco Viñas en Barcelona, perfeccionándose con la soprano británica Heather Harper.En 1993 debutó en el Teatro Colón como Zerlina en Don Giovanni y actuó como Pamina en La flauta mágica en 1996.Actúa regularmente en París, Florencia, Múnich , Berlín , Madrid Glyndebourne, Salzburg, Graz, Innsbruck, Montreaux, Würzburg, Ludwigsburg, Ámsterdam, Montpelier, San Francisco y Lisboa.”En 2009 obtuvo el Diploma al Mérito de los Premio Konex como una de las 5 mejores cantantes de música clásica de la década 1999-2008 en la Argentina.
I am also fan of Roberto AlgnaRoberto Alagna (Clichy-sous-Bois, 7 de junio de 1963) es un cantante de ópera francés, con registro de tenor. Proviene de una familia de emigrantes sicilianos. Comenzó a cantar muy joven en cabarets parisinos. Influido por las películas de Mario Lanza y las grabaciones de tenores históricos, cambió a la ópera. Es un cantante básicamente autodidacta, aprendió la mayor parte de su repertorio del contrabajista cubano y aficionado a la ópera, Rafael Ruiz.
Después de ganar el Concurso Vocal Luciano Pavarotti, Alagna debutó profesionalmente en 1988 como Alfredo Germont en La Traviata con la compañía del Festival de Glyndebourne. Esto llevó a muchos compromisos en ciudades pequeñas de Francia e Italia, principalmente como Alfredo, un rol que ha cantado más de 150 veces.
Creció su reputación y pronto fue invitado a cantar en los grandes teatros como La Scala (de nuevo como Alfredo, bajo la batuta de Riccardo Muti) en 1990, Covent Garden en 1992 y en la Metropolitan Opera como Rodolfo en La Bohème.
Sus interpretaciones de Romeo en Romeo y Julieta de Charles Gounod en Covent Garden en 1994 lo catapultaron al estrellato internacional.
Alagna ha desarrollado una particular afinidad por la ópera francesa y los papeles italianos más líricos, aunque algunos observadores muestran preocupación para asumir un repertorio italiano progresivamente más dramáticos, como el rol titular de Otello.
Su primera esposa, Florence Lancien, murió de tumor cerebral en 1994; tenían una hija, Ornella, nacida en 1992.
En 1996 se casó con la soprano Angela Gheorghiu. La pareja ha cantado junta en muchas ocasiones en el escenario y en grabaciones juntos de duetos, arias y óperas completas. Los dos cantantes protagonizaron también la versión fílmica de la ópera de Puccini Tosca dirigida por el francés Benoît Jacquot. Se separaron en 2009.
Alagna abrió la temporada 2006-07 en La Scala el 7 de diciembre de 2006 con la nueva producción de Aida de Franco Zeffirelli. Al comienzo de la segunda representación (10 de diciembre de 2006) fue abucheado y silbado por el público sentado en el loggione (aficionados a la ópera que se sientan en los lugares más baratos de la Scala). El tenor abandonó el escenario. El papel de Radamés fue asumido inmediatamente por Antonello Palombi, que entró en el escenario vestido de calle, con vaqueros y camisa. Más tarde, Alagna se disculpó aduciendo que quiso volver a entrar, aunque Palombi no le dejó.
Luego de fallidos intentos en los años 90, en 2012 finalmente debutó en el Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires en un recital junto a Angela Gheorghiu.
Fue condecorado con la orden de la Legión de honor
Anna Caterina Antonacci was excellent as Carmen but no one can compare with the performance of Christine Rice who I would travel far and wide to see live.
I first saw Carmen as an adolescent live locally when I then lived but cannot remember if I have seen live before the ROH visit. I have view and recorded three shortened version of around 90 mins several decades ago as well as the productions at the Met. There is of course also Carmen Jones the Film where I still have the original gramophone record.
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